Manufacture of wrappings



March 9, 1937. A. REPPMAN MANUFACTURE OF WRAPPINGS Filed June 15, 19.36 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ALBERT REPPMAN, Deceased, By MARIA REPPMAN, Executrix WIM# AT ToRNEYs MANUFACTURE OF WRAPP INGS Filed June 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Shea? 2 INVEII'OH ALBERT REPPMAN, DECS-"med, By MARIA RBPPMAN, Executrix ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MANUFACTURE OF WRAPPINGS Application June 15, 1936, Serial No. 85,445 In Great Britain December 20, 1935 11 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for the production of wrappings around bottles and like articles from wood wool or other fibrous material and has for its object to provide an improved construction and arrangement designed to facilitate the mounting and rotation of the article to be wrapped.

According to the invention a machine for wrapping bottles or the like articles with fibrous material having means for rotating the article to be wrapped within a hinged cover is provided wherein manually operated starting means are provided arranged when actuated first to close the cover elements and subsequently to set in motion the power operated means for rotating the article to be wrapped.

vAccording to another form of the invention a machine for wrapping bottles or the like with fibrous material is provided including power operated means for rotating a bottle within a stationary cover and starting mechanism including a. sliding element actuating means for locking the bottle in position and closing the cover before setting the rotating means in motion.

According to the preferred form of the invention a machine for forming brous wrappings around bottles and the like comprises a standard, a rotary platform thereon for supporting a bottle, hinged cover elements adapted to enclose said bottle, means for engaging and holding the -upper end of said bottle, a power shaft, a clutch for coupling said shaft to driving means, an operating spindle, connections actuated by said splindle to lock the bottle in place and close the cover before rotation of the bottle commences and an operating pedal for actuating said spindle and said clutch.

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example a bottle wrapping machine constructed according to the invention and in which:-

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the machine partly in section,

Fig. 2 is another sectional elevation of the machine viewed at right angles to Fig. 1,

p Fig. 3 is a detail plan showing the mechanism for operating the bottle cover when in closed position, and indicates the direction of rotation of the bottle and the manner of feeding the wrapping material into the device.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with the covers .in open position,

Fig. 5 is a detail plan taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 showing the means for operating the shafts by which the bottle cover is opened and closed.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentalelevational view of the clutch shown in Figure l and parts have been broken away to more clearly illustrate the structure involved, and

Fig. 7 is an end elevational view of the clutch operating fork. l

In the construction illustrated the machine comprises a main standard l through which passes a horizontal operating shaft 2 having externally of the standard I a series of pulleys 3 by which the shaft can be driven at variable speeds. The shaft 2 has a bevel pinion 4 at one end meshing with a bevel wheel 5 mounted at the lower end of a short vertical shaft 6 terminating at its upper end in a plate 'I constituting a support for a bottle 8 which rests on a cushion 9 carried on the upper surface of the plate 1. The gearing 4 and 5 and shaft 6 rotate in a housing I0 constituting an extension of the standard I.

During the wrapping operation a bottle B is adapted to be enclosed vby a cover II shaped to conform substantially to the shape of the bottle as shown in Fig. 1 but spaced therefrom at'all points. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the cover is made in two parts II a and IIb each mounted at its upper and lower ends on frame members I2 which are hinged at I3 to brackets I4 on an upper extension I5 of the standard I.`

As will be seen from Fig. 3 the outer edges of the cover II remote from the hinges I3 do not meet in the closed position so. that a slot I6 is formed throughout the height of the cover through which the wood .wool or other material to form the wrapping is fed after the cover has been closed and the bottle set in motion as hereinafter described. The hinged frame members I2 are pivoted to the ends of links I'Ivwhose opposite ends are also. pivoted to the ends of arms I8 xedly mounted on square shafts I9 which as shown in Fig. 2 extend vertically up each side of the machine and are supported by brackets 20 which extend laterally from the standard I and its upper extension I5. The shafts I9 are adapted to be partially rotated to open and close the cover II by means of links 2l connected to the outer ends of arms 22 fixed to the lower ends of the shafts the opposite ends of the links 2I being connected pivotally to a sliding collar 23 `mounted over a horizontal spindle 24 disposed below the operating shaft 2 in the standard I and movable axially with a sleeve 25 which surrounds the spindle at one end and is slidably mounted in the said standard.

'Ihe sliding collar 23 has a groove 26 in which engages the forked end of an upwardly extending arm 21 pivoted at 28 to a bracket 29 formed integrally with the base of the standard I, the said arm 21 being formed with an extension 30 passing through slots 3| in the standard and having a pedal 32 at its outer end, this extension 30 and. pedal being normally held in the upper or inoperative position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 byV means of a spring 33 whose upper end is anchored to a fixed point on the standard I.

The collar 23 bears at its outer end against a sleeve 34 which is fixed to the spindle 24, this sleeve having an upwardly extending arm 35 which is forked to engage a cone clutch 'element 3S slidable on the shaft 2 but rotatable therewith and adapted to engage a co-operating clutch element in the group of pulleys 3 for the purpose of coupling these pulleys to the shaft 2 when the machine is to be set in motion. As seen in Fig. 6, the cone clutch element is frictionally engaged with a correspondingly shaped cone face on the interior of pulley assembly 3, `thereby coupling the latter to shaft 2.

To clamp the bottle 8 on to the platform I and cause it to be rotated when the machine is started the means now to be described are employed and are disposed at the upper end of the extension I5 of the central standard. The upper end of one of the vertical shafts I9 carries a plate 3l which is formed with an upwardly .directed curved slot 38 in which engages a pin 39 at one end of a bell crank lever 4U which is pivotally mounted on an upward extension 4I of the uppermost bracket 20.

'I'he upper end of the bell crank lever 40 carries a pawl 42 operating a ratchet wheel 43 which is coaxially mounted with a toothed pinion engaging a vertical toothed rack 44V whose lower end carries a cap 45 whose lower end carries rotatably a member 45a which bears upon the top of the bottle and forces it downwards on to its seating on the plate 'I.

When the machine above described is inoperative and the pedal 32. is in its upper position the shaft 2 is idle and the cover Il is in the open position shown in Fig. 4. When the pedal 32 is depressed it first moves the collar 23 towards the left (Fig. 1) thereby rocking the arms 22 and shafts I9 in directions to close the cover elements IIa and I Ib around a bottle which has been positioned on the plate 'I'. This movement of the pedal 32 when continued brings the collar 23 into contact with the end of sleeve 25 so that spindle 24 is also moved towards the left a suicient distance to cause the clutch element 36 to enter into operative engagement with its corresponding clutch element and the shaft 2 begins to rotate. The arrangement ensures, however, that the shaft 2J cannot be set in motion until the cover I.I has been closed.`

During the initial movement of the collar 23 the partial rotary movement of the shafts I9 has caused the pin 39 to travel in the slot 38. This withdraws the pawl 42 from wheelA 43 and allows it to re-engage the wheel 43v at another point and lock the cap 45 temporarily in operative position. This arrangement allows the machine to adapt itself automatically to bottles of varying heights.

When the bottle so mounted within the cover has been set in motion the material to form the wrapping is fed through the slot I6 and the fibrous material is caused to become wound around the bottle which acting as a rotary core causes the fibrous material to be graduallyv drawn into the cover il and twisted around the bottle forming eventually a closely intermeshed wrapping extending over the whole exterior of the bottle and which retains its character as a protective covering when rotation of the shaft 2 being stopped the cover I I opens and the bottle is removed.

As the operator relaxes the pressure on pedal 32 to disconnect the drive from the plate 1 and open the casing members I la and I I b to the positions shown in Fig. 4, the partial rotary movement of shafts I9 rocks the bell crank lever 40 in a direction to draw the pawl 42 towards the right, Fig. l, out of engagement with the ratchet wheel. This movement enables the bottle to be pushed upwards slightly moving the rack 44 upwards also and thus freeing the bottle for removal. When, however, the next bottle is positioned on the plate 'I and the pedal 32 is depressed the pawl will again engage the ratchet wheel to depress the rack 44 and bring the rotatable element 45a into engage ment with the upper .end of the bottle.

What is claimed is;

l. A machine for forming fiibrous wrappings around bottles and the like comprising a standard, a rotary platform thereon for supporting a bottle, hinged cover elements adapted to enclose said bottle, means for engaging and holding the upper end of said bottle, a power shaft, a clutch for coupling said shaft to driving means, an operating spindle, connections actuated by sai-d spindle to lock the bottle in place and close the cover before rotation of the bottle commences and an operating pedal for actuating said spindle and said clutch.

2. A machine for wrapping bottles and the like articles with fibrous material comprising. a. framework, a cover embodying portions having means for mounting them upon said framework for relative movement toward one another to enclose said article, means for supporting an ar= for mounting them upon said framework forrelative movement toward one another to enclose said article and having a slot for the entry of the brous material, means for supporting a bottle in said cover, power operated means for rotating said bottle, and actuating means, including a manually operated sliding element for locking the bottle in position, closing said cover and then setting the rotating means in motion.

4. A machine for wrapping bottles and like articles with fibrous material comprising a framework, a cover embodying two hinged parts mounted in said framework and movable towardl one another to enclose the article, vertical shafts operatively connected to said cover parts for opening and closingwsaid cover, power operated .means for supporting and rotating an article to be wrapped within said cover, and manually operated starting means operable to actuate said shafts to close said cover and then to set in motion the said power operated means.

in cooperative relationship to said platform and'4 embodying hingedly mounted members movable toward one another to enclose said article, power operated means for rotating said platform, control means for said power operated means, and actuating means for moving said cover members to closed position and including connections to said control means for causing said power operated means to rotate said platform after said cover members have been brought into closed position.

6. The machine described in claim 5, wherein said actuating means comprises a pedal and is operable to cause said control means to couple said platform to said power operated means when it is depressed.

7. The machine described in claim 5, wherein a sliding spindle is provided having controlling connections with the cover members, and a connection is provided between said spindle and actuating means whereby said actuating means is operable to slide said spindle into operative position.

8. The machine described in claim 5, wherein a movable gripping member is provided for forcing said article into contact with said platform, and means is provided for connecting said gripping member to said actuating means for synchronous operation of the gripping member with said cover members.

9. In a machine for forming fibrous wrappings around articles such as bottles, comprising a platform mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis and adapted to support one of said actuating member causes said clutch to couple said power shaft to said platform.

10. 'Ihe machine described in claim 9, wherein a vertically movable clamping device is mounted for movement toward and away from the top of said article for holding it on said platform, and means, having an operative connection with at least one of said cover members, for causing said device to move toward said article synchronously with movement of said cover members to closed position.

1l. The machine described in claim 9, wherein said actuating member comprises a sleeve mounted for axial movement, and said interconnecting means comprises a clutch shifter rod engageable `by said sleeve, a pair of links connected to said sleeve and a pair of vertical shafts connected to said links and said cover members.

MARIA REPPMAN, Executrzx of the Estate of Albert Reppman, `named, in the last Will and Testament of the said Albert Reppman. 

